Israeli cybersecurity startup raises $60 million to fight AI threats

Ben Seri (CTO), Sanaz Yashar (CEO), Snir Havdala (CPO) of Zafran Safety.

Courtesy: Eric Sultan | Zafran

Zafran Safety, a cybersecurity startup created by an Iranian-born spy whose story helped encourage the hit Apple TV sequence “Tehran,” has raised $60 million, the corporate mentioned Tuesday.

Sanaz Yashar, the previous spy and CEO of Zafran, advised CNBC that the funding spherical comes on account of the accelerating velocity and tempo of cyberattacks because of the on-going AI increase. Zafran makes use of synthetic intelligence and automation know-how to handle menace publicity.

It is “changing into way more extreme than it was even a yr in the past,” she mentioned in an unique interview.

The spherical brings Zafran’s whole funding to $130 million since its founding in 2022. Zafran didn’t disclose the valuation at which it raised, however the startup mentioned it has greater than tripled annual recurring income since its final spherical for $70 million in September 2024. Annual recurring income is a time period typically used to measure revenue anticipated on a 12-month foundation for a product.

The corporate plans to make use of the cash to rent extra individuals, Yashar mentioned.

Menlo Ventures led the funding spherical, with participation from Sequoia Capital and Cyberstarts, which was an early investor within the startup Wiz that bought to Google for $32 billion in March.

Corporations are on the lookout for methods to reinvigorate their cybersecurity capabilities as AI reshapes the sophistication and capabilities of cyber criminals.

Moreover Wiz, Palo Alto Networks in July introduced that it acquired id safety supplier CyberArk for $25 billion.

Yashar and co-founders Ben Seri and Snir Havdala created Zafran following an investigation right into a ransomware assault on a hospital in Israel.

“The information was there,” Yashar advised CNBC, including that cohesive safety instruments might need prevented the assault. “If the safety instruments have been speaking to one another, they may block it.”

Yashar, who moved to Israel from Tehran at 17, served for 15 years in an elite cybersecurity intelligence unit throughout the Israel Protection Forces often known as Unit 8200. She additionally led main investigations at menace detection agency FireEye and Mandiant, which Google purchased in 2022.

Many well-known cybersecurity firms have originated from Unit 8200 alum, together with Palo Alto Networks, Verify Level Software program and CyberArk.